A rare iron reduction cast of the Parthenon frieze
Cast iron with bronze coloured patina. Model no. 794. Inscribed in Latin on the left: "POMPA PANATHENAICA / POMPA CONTINVATA / HEROVM CONSESSVS POMPAE PARS ALTERA", and right: "IN PARTHENONIS LATERE OCCIDENTALI / IN LATERE SEPTENTRIONALI SVPRA PARTHENONIS
PORTAM ORIENTALEM IN LATERT MERIDION ALI". With cast signature "HENNING" several times, numbered on the various sections. H 44.5, W 140.5 cm.
Gräflich Stolberg-Wernigerödische Iron Foundry Ilsenburg, second half 19th C., after a model by John Henning.
The Scottish sculptor John Henning (1771 - 1851) met Lord Elgin in 1811 and suggested that he make miniature copies of the parts of the Parthenon frieze that were in his possession, based on his drawings. Henning began to sell relief copies of the frieze in 1820, sometimes with the addition of invented motifs. He produced an almost 16 meter long "reproduction" made of Bath stone, a type of limestone, for the London Athenaeum Club in 1828. The model for the reduction cast shown here was probably created after 1845, when Henning was producing prints.
Literature
Mentioned in the "Preis-Verzeichnis der Kunstguss-Waaren der Gräflich Stolberg-Wernigerödischen Factorei zu Ilsenburg am Harz" of 1889 under item 794: "Frieze of the Parthenon, modelled by Henning, 1.307 m long, 0.340 m wide [...] The same with wooden frame..."
Cf. cat. Der Eiserne Harz. Harzer Eisenkunstguss des 19. Jahrhunderts, Dössel 2010.